


Self-Doubt

by MyriahKamm



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 04:02:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3160457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyriahKamm/pseuds/MyriahKamm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short little fluff piece. Rei begins doubting his relationship with Haruka-senpai. Fortunately, older swimmer has just the cure for that self-doubt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Self-Doubt

Their relationship started off pretty smoothly. It shocked their friends at first, mostly Makoto because he was sure Haruka would never actually  _date_  anyone, but now everyone just sort of goes with it.

That’s how Rei feels about it at this point, too. It started because he spent so much of each practice watching Haruka-senpai swim because of the sheer beauty of it. He made a point to always follow Haruka-senpai to the pool even when it wasn’t time for practice, just so he could watch his  _senpai_  swim. One day after he got out of the pool, Haruka-senpai asked Rei why he insisted on watching him. Rei sputtered out some nonsense about Haruka-senpai’s swimming being beautiful and he just couldn’t help but watch because he’s never seen anything so utterly perfect! And Haruka-senpai said he could only keep watching him if he agreed to date him.

That’s probably the strangest part of the whole thing, Rei muses. The fact that Haruka-senpai was the one to ask  _him_  out, and not the other way around. It’s for the best, of course, because Rei was driving himself a bit mad trying to figure out the best way to even bring it up to Haruka-senpai.

As Rei sits in Haruka-senpai’s kitchen watching him cook dinner—something with mackerel, of course, but Rei isn’t sure exactly what—he marvels at just how beautiful the older teen is in virtually  _everything_  he does. It isn’t just when he’s swimming; no, Haruka-senpai moves so gracefully even when he’s doing something as simple as cooking. And then a thought runs through Rei’s head.

_I don’t deserve this perfection._

While Rei doesn’t doubt himself often, whenever it  _does_  happen, that self-doubt is intense. And the moment that thought runs through his head, it’s as though the floodgates break and thought after thought of self-doubt and self-loathing rushes forth.

_What have I really done to deserve Haruka-senpai? Absolutely nothing. He’s utterly perfect, and I’m simply pathetic. As Rin-san keeps pointing out, my butterfly is anything but beautiful, and it’s slow, and I keep holding my teammates back._

_I don’t deserve him. Any day now, he’s going to leave me for Makoto-senpai or Rin-san or, heck, even Nagisa-kun. He’s known all of them for far longer, and he has far more chemistry with them, and they’re all far better swimmers than I am, and…_

"Rei."

He looks up, shaken from his thoughts by Haruka-senpai’s voice. The moment he lifts his head, his companion slips a forkful of mackerel into his mouth. As his taste buds accommodate themselves to the exquisite flavors by which they are barraged, a smile forms on Rei’s lips. Haruka-senpai pulls the fork back again, smiling the slight-smile that’s so characteristic of him.

And  _this_  is perhaps what Rei loves most about Haruka-senpai. All it takes is a bite of expertly-cooked mackerel and a smile, and Rei forgets all his self-doubt, all his troubles.

He doesn’t anticipate the kiss that comes once he swallows the mouthful of mackerel. He’s blushing furiously by the time Haruka-senpai breaks the kiss.

"H-Haruka-senpai…"

"You’re beautiful, Rei. And drop the ‘senpai’. It’s just Haru."

Rei feels his blush deepen, impossibly so. “…Haru…”

"That’s more like it."

And before Rei can protest because it’s not proper for him to call Haruka-senpai by a nickname without an honorific since he  _is_  Rei’s senior and all that, Haruka-senpai slips another piece of mackerel into his mouth.

Between the mackerel and the kisses, Rei can’t get another word in edgewise all night.


End file.
